India's envoy to Canada, who is being expelled over what Ottawa says are links to the murder of a Sikh leader, insisted in an interview he was innocent and said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had wrecked bilateral political ties.

There are roughly 770,000 Sikhs in Canada, about 2 per cent of the population - the largest Sikh community outside India Ottawa's accusations this week detailing a deadly Indian campaign against its Canada-based critics may have further derailed bilateral relations - but to Sikh activists,

Comparing India to Russia, Joly said Canada's national police force has linked Indian diplomats to homicides, death threats and intimidation in Canada.